


New Horizons

by shockandlock



Category: One Piece
Genre: Animal Crossing References, Birthday, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23222503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shockandlock/pseuds/shockandlock
Summary: How does Sabo's dear family prepare for his birthday while he's busy preparing for the latest installment of his favorite game?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	New Horizons

**Author's Note:**

> Haha I said I would write a thing for this like two weeks ago then I forgot until now. Well, here it is! Can you guess what I'm excited for?
> 
> Enjoy!

“It tastes great!”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought you’d say.”

In hindsight, it was definitely a bad idea to ask Luffy to be the taste tester, but Ace couldn’t exactly say no. Ace stared at Luffy, who didn’t even ask for permission before he continued to inhale the dry and burnt cake. To be fair, Ace thought that the batter had been too raw, so he cranked up the oven’s heat and popped it back in, leading to the horrid result sitting on the counter. “Go nuts, Lu.”

Ace glanced at the clock. Maybe he had time to start a new one? The bakers on those cooking shows could get it done, so it was possible at the very least. He wasn’t about to take back the challenge of baking an Animal Crossing themed cake for Sabo’s birthday, but there were definitely obstacles.

Problem 1: decorations. Ace briefly considered just plopping some of Sabo’s amiibo on top of the cake, but he also knew that Sabo would probably kill him if he did that. 

Then there was the most obvious problem: he couldn’t bake, even with the help of the cake mix.

He heard someone knock on the front door and he froze, listening: two knocks, pause, four knocks. He let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s Koala!” Luffy exclaimed, hopping up from his stool and taking another big bite before running to the door. Ace followed behind him.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Koala apologized as she shuffled through the front door, carefully balancing a couple of boxes in her hands. “Can you take these to the kitchen?” she asked. “I need to grab the pizzas from my car.”

“Pizza!”

“Meat-lovers?”

Koala snorted. “Of course!”

Ace took the boxes from her. He didn’t know what was in them, but judging by the way Luffy was drooling, it must have also been some kind of food. Sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed when he opened the box to see several adorable cupcakes decorated like Animal Crossing characters sitting inside.

“You’re a lifesaver, Koala,” Ace said when she entered the kitchen with several pizza boxes (seven to be exact). 

“I ordered them from Thatch’s bakery as soon as you said you were going to bake the cake.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Koala shrugged. “You’re much better at burning things than actually cooking them, Ace.”

Considering how his failed attempt turned out, he couldn’t exactly deny that.

“So where’s Sabo?”

Ace gestured towards the stairs with his head. “Upstairs. He’s still planning out his town with his fancy art supplies.” 

Sabo had praised the online tools that people had made to plan their towns, but personally, he told Ace,  _ “I need something to distract myself while waiting! Besides, I can frame it when I’m done.” _

“Oi!” Ace yelled, pointing at Luffy lurking near the pizza boxes. “You gotta wait!”

“Awww, but I’m hungry, Ace,” Luffy whined.

“You’re always hungry.”

Koala cut in. “Let’s just set up while he’s distracted.”

Thankfully, they didn’t need to do too much work. For the time being, they were just going to have a small celebration with just the four of them. Sabo’s most anticipated game of the past few years was released in a few hours when his birthday hit and he would definitely want to play the game as soon as possible.

Ace pointed at the cupcakes as Koala set them onto plates. “What are the flavors?”

“Isabelle is vanilla, Tom Nook is coffee-mocha, Lolly is Earl-Grey—”

“Fancy.”

“— and Merengue is—”

“Strawberry?”

“You got it.” 

Thatch was truly a master of pastry for making several cupcakes that looked exactly like the characters, though Ace wondered if Sabo would hesitate to eat them.

_ “Lolly’s just a sweet little cat!”  _ Sabo had explained in excitement when telling them which villagers he needed on his island no matter what. Kotatsu had meowed in agreement.  _ “And look at Merengue! Her rhino horn is a  _ **_ strawberry _ ** _! She's a chef!” _

Ace didn’t quite get the hype, but Sabo insisted that they experience the game along with him. He gave Ace his old Switch after buying a Special Edition Animal Crossing Switch as a “self-care purchase” (as Sabo himself put it). Luffy already had his own as a gift from his friends and Koala had bought one for herself (which was decked out with a custom-made aquarium decal). 

“What’s all this?” 

Ace turned around to see Sabo staring back at them from the top of the stairs. “Hey. Go upstairs. We’re not finished yet.”

“Too late for that!” Sabo grinned wide and rushed down the stairs, darting past Ace to hold up one of the cupcakes. “Holy shit. These are adorable. Is this all for me?”

“Who else would it be for? Mr. Animal Crossing himself?” 

“Well, it’s not midnight yet, so it’s actually Merengue’s birthday…” Sabo explained, starting another long rant of his favorite game.

“Happy birthday, Sabo,” Ace said quietly, watching his brother happily talk on and on. “Happy birthday.”

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I made one of my favorite villagers one of Sabo's favorites for reasons. Thanks for reading! Remember to leave a Comment and Kudos!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/shockandlock)  
> [carrd](https://shockandlock.carrd.co/)


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